SIP Forum User Agent Configuration Recommendation Ratified and Published as RFC 6011 by the Internet Engineering Task Force

North Andover, MA, December 07, 2010 --(PR.com)-- The SIP Forum (www.sipforum.org) has announced that its User Agent Configuration Recommendation for the locating, retrieving and maintaining of SIP User Agents has been ratified and published as RFC 6011 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

The publishing of the recommendation as RFC 6011 marks a significant milestone for the SIP Forum, the leading IP communications industry association, and its UA Configuration Task Group, led by Chairman John Elwell, the Head of Standardization Strategy at Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH. The UA Configuration Task Group has been working on the procedure since 2009, and has designed the standard in a manner that addresses the needs of end users and services providers, as well as both small businesses and large enterprises deploying SIP-enabled endpoints.

“While the interoperability of SIP has reached a point where most VoIP phones can interact with most networks and service platforms, consistent configuration and provisioning of the devices can sometimes be tricky for non-technical end users. The goal of the Task Group has been to establish a technical protocol that ensures the idea that when a customer attaches a user agent, with or without an interface and regardless of vendor, something useful and meaningful happens,” said Richard Shockey, Chairman of the SIP Forum. “This standard is important for the proliferation of SIP and equally important for unified communications in general. We are happy the IETF has approved the recommendation and published it as RFC 6011.”

“I wish to thank all of those who worked quite hard over the course of many months to reach this milestone, especially Scott Lawrence, Director of Open Development at Linden Lab, who served as the primary document editor, and John Elwell, UA Configuration Task Group Chair. This certainly would not have been possible without their commitment to the work,” added Marc Robins, President and Managing Director of the SIP Forum.

Now published as RFC 6011 by the IETF’s Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) after a public review process by the IETF community, the User Agent Configuration Recommendation (UA Config) sets a standard procedure for how a SIP User Agent locates, retrieves and maintains current configuration information for a given SIP Service Provider. It requires that each User Agent, the configuration agent at the service provider and network infrastructure meet such requirements to ensure communication.

The implementation of the new standard should require minimal effort from companies and service providers deploying or upgrading a SIP-based unified communications system. Under the recommendation, no new equipment will be required for end users, and for service providers and equipment makers, there will be only a slight coding change.

For more information about the User Agent configuration standard, go to the SIP Forum’s UA Configuration Task Group at www.sipforum.org/content/view/311/253/.

To view the published text of RFC 6011, please visit http://tools.ietf.org/search/rfc6011.

About The SIP Forum
The SIP Forum is an IP communications industry association that engages in numerous activities that promote and advance SIP-based technology, such as the development of industry recommendations, the SIPit interoperability and testing events, special interoperability workshops, educational seminars, special interest groups, and general promotion of SIP in the industry. One of the Forum's notable technical activities is the development of the SIPconnect Technical Recommendation -- a standards-based recommendation that provides detailed guidelines for direct IP peering and interoperability between IP PBXs and VoIP service provider networks. The SIPconnect Compliant Certification Program is an associated program through which eligible companies can gain SIPconnect validation and the right to license the use of the SIP Forum's 'SIPconnect Compliant' certification mark -- the official brand of the leading standard for SIP Trunking products and services. Other important Forum initiatives include work in Fax-over-IP interoperability, User Agent Configuration, and the opportunities for SIP in Smart Grid deployments. For more information, please visit: http://www.sipforum.org.

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